Vanguard

Vanguard is closely tied to the folk revival of the late 1950s and 1960s, with a catalogue that reaches from traditional song to more exploratory acoustic music. The label’s name comes up alongside artists including Joan Baez, Hedy West and Peter Walker, which gives a fair sense of its range: politically engaged folk, deep traditional roots and guitar music that could stretch into raga and beyond.

That history is reflected in releases such as The First Ten Years by Joan Baez and the retrospective Make It Your Sound, Make It Your Scene: Vanguards Records and The 1960's Musical Revolution. More than a single-scene imprint, Vanguard helped document a moment when American folk and related music were opening out in public and in style.